Catching big fish: Luck or Skill?

[The Baron]

Boy, lots to chew on here.

 

I feel like catching big bass is about knowing where they live, so knowledge, and of course skill to know how to present the right bait to them at the right time. A little luck never hurt, but I rely mostly on the latter and my results show it.  I’m working on the knowledge and skill though.

 

I believe you’re right @Swamp Girl about size in the north.  Talking largemouth, anything over 4# here is a very good fish but you can expect a good angler to catch one regularly.  Over 5# is a really good one, but likely happens a couple times a year for an experienced angler.  Over 6# is a once/season event for a very good fisherman who spends a lot of time on the water but could be a once in a lifetime fish for the average angler. Over 7# is a freak.

 

The blessing for my area is the same weights apply for smallmouth.  In fact, 4’s and 5’s are very common on Lake Ontario / the St. Lawrence River, with 6+ not at all uncommon.

[gim]

1 minute ago, The Baron said:

Talking largemouth, anything over 4# here is a very good fish but you can expect a good angler to catch one regularly.  Over 5# is a really good one, but likely happens a couple times a year for an experienced angler.  Over 6# is a once/season event for a very good fisherman who spends a lot of time on the water but could be a once in a lifetime fish for the average angler.

 

I'm generally in agreement with this.  I have never caught a largemouth over 6 pounds in over 20 years fishing here though.  I've come close many times, including twice last season.

 

Honestly even a 3 pounder is a much better fish than average here too.  You bring in a 5 fish limit of 3 pounders and you generally will do pretty good in most non-pro tournaments here.

[KSanford33]

3 hours ago, Fried Lemons said:

When you say big, how big are we talking? I fish swimbaits a lot and one thing I've noticed is nothern guys tend to want to throw the 6-7" baits because they think their fish aren't big enough to tackle the true big baits. I've had the most success with baits in the 8-10" range. My most productive glide bait is a Deps 250. This may be counterintuitive but when the fish are really eating big baits you get more bites by upsizing instead of downsizing. 

You make a good point. I consider big baits to be in the 6-7” range here in NY. I have bigger baits, but I usually only throw those when I’m going for pike or musky. 

[The Baron]

19 hours ago, The Baron said:

I feel like catching big bass is about knowing where they live, so knowledge, and of course skill to know how to present the right bait to them at the right time. A little luck never hurt, but I rely mostly on the latter and my results show it.  I’m working on the knowledge and skill though.

I’ve thought about this more, and to build on my own opinion… I really think knowledge of where the fish are is the master key.  So the biggest cheat code of FFS (yup… I’m going there. lol) is guys with less knowledge can find the biggest fish out in open water, fish that before FFS we wouldn’t have known were there and/or only the old masters would have the hard earned knowledge, confidence and faith to fish for.  And the next component of skill to present the bait is also diminished when you can see your bait so steer it right to the fish and see how the fish reacts.  Now, guys with FFS still need to have an idea where to look for fish at any given time of year, but they get real time confirmation so the search time can be a lot less and there’s no guessing.  Give me and a better fisherman both FFS and I’m still gonna get whooped, but give me a season learning how to use FFS on my local lakes and I’ll bet I can catch bigger fish with a lot more consistency.  I’ll learn where they are and how they act, so the knowledge gain would be dramatic.  Just my extra .02 cents worth (CDN funds, so nearly worthless. haha).

[Catt]

23 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

My approach is basically attrition. I dance with a lot of bass and sooner or later, I dance with a big gal. And some sweet mornings, I get to dance with five or six big gals, but along the way, I get to dance and dance and dance

 

Interesting...very interesting 🤔 

 

[Mobasser]

So many of the big bass are caught on jigs, but the big fish are caught on all sorts of baits. My old buddy Mike caught a seven pounder on a Buzzbait. Spooks, swimbaits, plastic worms and spinnerbaits have all worked for big fish at times. We just have to be there when the big ones are ready to eat.                Most times, it seems like the window of opportunity is small. I've read a lot about big bass liking crawfish, and it's been proven. But, I also think that if your in the right location, and a big one is hungry, they'll strike other baits too. Most bass guys don't use much live bait anymore, but plenty of big fish have been taken on live craw's, nightcrawlers, and large minnows too.         There was even a whopper caught on a chicken nugget.

[Catt]

3 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

There was even a whopper caught on a chicken nugget

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

To many great posts to like, but the big Bass threads are always enjoyable and informative because of the members here.   Few thought exercises are as fun as thinking about how Bass get big, and where they live. 

 

@Swamp Girl   You're crazy if you don't think you're in the big Bass club.   Hard to imagine anybody catching more big fish in Maine than you!   

 

@Catt posting these points from the book Big Bass Magic really sticks out to me, I hadn't thought about those things, but the more I do, the more they make sense.    The true outlier fish have figured out something that 99% of other fish are unable to.  Biologists say that if a Bass has one poor growing season, they usually can't recover the trajectory that it takes to become a true giant Bass.  My understanding is that trophy caliber fish never have a bad growing season.   

 

 

[Mobasser]

8 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

 

That's her Catt. She's a whopper too.

[Catt]

@AlabamaSpothunter Genetics 

 

https://texasoutdoordigest.com/fishing/freshwater/lake-naconiche-record-bass-is-descendant-of-falcon-reservoir-sharelunker/

[Swamp Girl]

15 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

My understanding is that trophy caliber fish never have a bad growing season.   

 

The giants are the supreme predators.

 

15 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Hard to imagine anybody catching more big fish in Maine than you!   

 

@PhishLI knows of a night-fishing, BIG swimbait user who catches bigger bass than me. I've seen his fish photos. He's the real deal.

 

15 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Few thought exercises are as fun as thinking about how Bass get big, and where they live. 

 

So true. Talking about bass is keeping me from going stir-crazy...well that and seeing the fish pics!

 

9 minutes ago, Catt said:

@AlabamaSpothunter Genetics 

 

https://texasoutdoordigest.com/fishing/freshwater/lake-naconiche-record-bass-is-descendant-of-falcon-reservoir-sharelunker/

 

So cool to see the program working!

 

44 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Interesting...very interesting 🤔 

 

 

Riffing off of something I once read on a t-shirt, I catch 'em all and let God sort 'em out. 😅

[Reel]

Up north, if you wait a whole year for that special day when the season opens (Bass fishing not permitted before) and you go out rain or shine and head for that special reed bed close to the best spawning site on the million acre lake and get that six pound plus smallmouth, then you are a trophy hunter ... not much luck involved.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

We've been talking a lot about Crawfish, but the most fascinating forage to look at in my view is Blue Back Herring. 

 

Once a Bass gets a taste of Herrings, they will change their entire behaviors in order to exclusively target them.   

 

I haven't seen a study yet, but I'd bet a Bass prefers a Blue Back Herring to all other forage species.   

 

Lake Murray is a great big Bass case study on this subject.   

[Swamp Girl]

27 minutes ago, Reel said:

you go out rain or shine

 

I was on the Mississippi River one gray, blustery day in October in Minnesota and I paddled up to a big jonboat to chat. He showed me his nine pound walleye and said he'd caught many that size.

 

Then he said, "The other guys think I have a secret way to catch them, but look around."

 

And he motioned upriver and downriver.

 

"It's nasty today and we're the only ones out here. That's how I catch them, I'm fishing when it's too foul for everyone else. I just keep fishing no matter what the weather is."

 

Reel, I think this dogged persistence might be the surest mark of a trophy hunter.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Completely agree Katie.   

Seems all the best big Bass hunters are obsessive about being on the water, and especially when others are least likely to be out there.

 

I think about true legends like Pat Cullin and LJ Brasher.    Brasher would spend multiple days straight on the water, as he believed at some point during that time the big fish bite window would be open.    Pat Cullin worked a full time job, ate dinner and did homework with family, and then fished through the night.   The man hardly slept but caught over 1000 DD fish.  

[Tennessee Boy]

Knowledge -  Knowing what lakes hold big bass,  knowing where the big bass are in the lake and knowing how big bass are different.

 

Skill -  Being able to do what needs to be done when the fishing rod is in your hand.

 

Luck-  The unpredictable and uncontrollable factors that influence success.

 

These are all necessary to catch big bass  Luck will sometimes overcome weakness in the other two.  I would say luck is the most important but it is the only one we can't control and can't improve.  Work on your skill,  expand your knowledge and wait for luck to come your way.

[Team9nine]

These big bass threads are always so -  what’s the word - Interesting? Entertaining?

 

 

That’s all. Carry on 😎

[F14A-B]

On the water experience plain and simple. I mean if you have fished the same lakes and ponds etc, you should have the necessary data to duplicate your past success.. it pretty much duplicates itself year after year. Water temperature, secondary points, visual confirmation of males in shallow, beds being groomed.. horizontal and even vertical presentation tactics will work but I’m on the horizontal in late winter or early spring. Females will move off the beds and basically retrace their routes and are very hungry. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Pat Cullin worked a full time job, ate dinner and did homework with family, and then fished through the night.   The man hardly slept but caught over 1000 DD fish.  

 

True legend, for sure. 

[GreenPig]

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

I was on the Mississippi River one gray, blustery day in October in Minnesota and I paddled up to a big jonboat to chat. He showed me his nine pound walleye and said he'd caught many that size.

 

Then he said, "The other guys think I have a secret way to catch them, but look around."

 

And he motioned upriver and downriver.

 

"It's nasty today and we're the only ones out here. That's how I catch them, I'm fishing when it's too foul for everyone else. I just keep fishing no matter what the weather is."

 

Reel, I think this dogged persistence might be the surest mark of a trophy hunter.

I choose to fish the ugliest days. 

[F14A-B]

8 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

I choose to fish the ugliest days. 

Yep, those dark gloomy wet days are often very rewarding, they can also be miserable, uncomfortable days. 

[Swamp Girl]

36 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

I choose to fish the ugliest days. 

 

I too prefer a gray, leaky sky. Why? It's because I'm an old school angler: paddle, rod, and stealth. 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

On 2/11/2025 at 9:12 AM, Catt said:

 

I've read surveys that suggest if given an equal opportunity & adequate number a bass will eat crawfish first.  

 

We have to keep in mind what is the predominate prey species is in your body of water. In some bodies of water this could be a single species or multiple species. 

 

Down on the Gulf Coast we fish a lot of brackish water & grass shrimp are a huge portion of a bass's diet. These shrimp are only an inch or an inch & half long but there's millions of em. 

I think the predominant prey can vary based on the season too.

On 2/11/2025 at 9:22 AM, Pat Brown said:

 

 

Every single year I see the mayflies hatch and I see panfish AND double digit bass return to the trees for this event and everyone eats those little guys while it's happening.  I personally think it's a mother's milk situation.  They all got started on mayflies at one point in time.  I think the big girls snag a crappie or two while they're in the area and don't make a big fuss about it also but they're definitely munching the bugs too.  🙂

When I lived in Wisconsin there was this Giant Mayfly hatch every summer (Hexagenia Limbata) or just “Hex” for short. They would hatch out of the Mississippi and any other body of water with a soft bottom.  The fish gorge  themselves on the nymphs by the millions  trying to get to the surface. Supposedly according to the local biologists during this hatch the fish got 70% of their annual protein.  And the fishing would be terrible for quite a time after. 
 

They simply can’t ignore that amount of easily available and vulnerable biomass.

[Swamp Girl]

5 hours ago, Pumpkin Lizard said:

And the fishing would be terrible for quite a time after. 

 

I fished through those hatches and caught a lot of fish. Their mouths would be stuffed with mayflies, but they'd still hit a lure.